I'm having a lot of problems shooting in low-light conditions with my Olympus C-720. What settings do you guys use to get good shots in overcast/dawn/dusk photos? Tried shooting a 747 at CMH in mist, overcast, and getting close to dusk, and they came out completely black.

When I was using my C-700, I tried in vain many times to get that type of shot. It will work well for a stationary subject on the ramp with a tripod and going into manual mode. You will have to play with the settings to get a decent image. I never got an acceptable shot of a moving image in low light.

I am having this problem as well. I can get "good" pictures of moving images (ie planes) in overcast conditions, but they are so grainy they come out worthless. Are there any filters or such that someone can recommend as well?

It depends what mode you are using the camera in. Say if you are using Shutter Priority, you may have the camera set at a shutter speed of 1/500. This means that in low light, there is no aperture number that will be able to expose the picture properly, and therefore the lens won't open for long enough or wide enough to let enough light in to take the picture properly.

My advice to you is use Program mode (if your camera has it, and if not auto mode), until you get an idea of what shutter speed/aperture to use in different light conditions. If you still find your photos to be dark you should be able to set some exposure compensation (normally +/- 1-3 steps) that should correct the problem.

Also, unless you have a very good camera, try and avoid high ISO settings on your camera as the higher you set it, the grainier the pictures come out. I know on older cameras (not aware of these newer models), anything higher than ISO 100 was totally unacceptable.

Hey Frenchie, if I ever want advice from you, it will be the first time. Just kidding. In your photo, the clouds appear to be at least 4 or 5 thousand feet. I have actually had mild luck in conditions like that. For the last couple of months though, I have had one shift at Buffalo where I didn't have a Broken layer under 1,500 feet for most of my shift. I did get some good photos that day, but of course they can't be found here, lol.

Dan, thanks for the help as well. I printed it out, so I can have it handy the next time I break out the camera.

Yeah, your right, all my cloudy days have been at like 5000ft overcast, and usually pretty light aswell.
Dan was absolutley right too. Never above ISO 100 and always a lower shutter setting. Its really easier to put it in auto mode and then, before taking the pic, press the shutter button half way a few times while tracking the object (plane) so that the camera can try to determine what the best settings are. At least, thats what works for me.
Take the shot after having let the camera focus once or twice, so that it can optimise all the settings to get a better picture...

Nobody knows the height of clouds like I do, lol. I actually learned several things about my camera this weekend while taking picture errrrr working at KBUF. Maybe I will figure it all out one day. In the meantime I still suck though.

Taken with Kodak Gold 200 at f/5.6 and 1/125 or 1/180/sec (can't remember). Took about 4 photos of the plane taxiing out and this one was the only one without motion blur. I was kinda distracted too when taking the pics because I heard them announce "taxiing to runway 11" on my scanner. I'm never too happy when a plane takes off from 11 since I get a rear perspective shot (they have to turn right). Unfortunately when the wind is calm- thats what GLA usually always does to allign with cruise heading better.